Then and Now: Peoples Bank

The story below is from our September/October 2020 issue. For more stories like it, Subscribe Today. Thank you! 

One building in Vinton has hosted the same business for generations. 

The building at the corner of South Pollard Street and Lee Avenue is a landmark for Vinton financial institutions.

At the time of this photo, taken in 1912, the brick structure was home to Peoples Bank, which was established in 1910.

Peoples may have started a trend for 201 S. Pollard St.  It was one of the first banks to move into the building, and historic records and photographs from the Vinton History Museum show that financial institutions are the primary businesses housed there through the years.

Peoples eventually merged with First National Bank of Vinton, becoming Peoples Bank of Vinton.

In 1932, Mountain Trust Bank took over. The bank’s name was changed to First and Merchants in 1974. Ten years later, it became Sovran Bank when First and Merchants and Virginia National Bank merged, according to a news article available at the Vinton History Museum. 

Sovran was the largest bank in Virginia at the time, with more than $7 billion in assets, approximately 8,419 employees in the state and 12 in Vinton.

Remnants of banking’s past are on display at the Vinton History Museum. The museum holds an historic bookkeeping machine that resembles a typewriter, a money bank, and small savings record books bearing the names of some of these former banking institutions.

And as history repeats, 201 S. Pollard St. remains home to a bank. Now, it is HomeTrust Bank. The North Carolina-based company bought the building in 2005, according to Vinton property records.

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